Not So Much of A Secret
by Ashleigh Crawley
Summary: Melanie (Darcy's mistress) and Darcy have a secret that they don't want out, but when something almost unexpected happens, they are forced to face the facts.
1. Introduction

It wasn't a strange thing for them the first time they had made love to one another. They had known each for quite a long time after all, and she had been lusting after him ever since she first laid eyes on him. For Melanie Shropshire, Darcy Garland was a dream come true. It didn't matter to her that he was married, he had only really married Dr Ogden in a bought of affectionate lust. She knew for a fact that Darcy wasn't affectionate towards Julia anyways, he was only really affectionate towards her. She really was happy when he showered her with love, it made her feel very important. The Imperial Hotel was the spot where they were themselves around the people the truly loved, each other. They never seemed to care who saw them together, they were happy together, but Melanie still craved more from him. She wanted to marry him, but he still refused to sign the divorce papers his wife had sent him. She had nearly snapped when he told her that he had ripped them up.

Perhaps it was her fault. Maybe he knew that she loved him dearly and didn't want to have to marry her once he divorced Julia. He obviously knew what she wanted. She wanted him and he was trying to prevent her from having him. The only problem was that she didn't know why he would do such a thing. He obviously liked her much more than he did his own wife, so why didn't he want to marry her?

_Well, _Melanie thought. _I intend to figure this out and make Darcy mine, once and for all._


	2. Part One

**PART I**

_Dear Journal,_

_ Melanie seems to be behaving rather strangely lately. I do not know what could have caused this. I hope that I have not done anything wrong, I do care quite a bit about her. Ever since Julia left me for Detective Murdoch, Melanie has brought some light back into my life. I really did think that Julia loved me, but now I know for sure that she does not. _

_ Perhaps Julia ran off because of the fact that I can not support her contraception clinic now that I am head of the hospital. I did love her, but now I'm not so sure. Melanie on the other hand, I do love her very much and I must find out what on Earth is bothering her. I'm taking her to the Imperial Hotel tonight, hopefully she will be willing to discuss what has made her behavior so strange as of late. I may get a chance to write later, but I am unsure. Melanie and I keep busy when we are together._

_-Darcy_

Darcy closed his journal and reached for his telephone to call Melanie. When she picked up the phone, he heard her say "Hello."

"Melanie," Darcy said. "It's me, Darcy. Are you busy this evening? Shall we go to the hotel and spend the night together?"

"That sounds like a wonderful idea Darcy," she replied, and he could almost hear the smile in her voice.

"Wonderful dear, shall I pick you up before dinner?" he asked. "We could have dinner before our time at the hotel."

"Of course Darcy, I will be eagerly waiting for you," she responded.

"Glad to hear it darling," he said, smirking. "Will 5:30 be good for you. I don't want to keep you waiting for too long?"

"Oh, Darcy, really? Must you do that over the telephone? Anyone could be listening in," she whispered, smiling softly, knowing that she had to play this game right back at him. "Yes, 5:30 is perfectly fine. I honestly can not wait to see you. Like I said, I will be eagerly awaiting you dear."

"Oh, really Melanie? Now you're playing this game?" he asked, quite amused at the game she was playing. He had started it after all.

"Of course," she replied, sounding as seductive as possible over the telephone. "Do you mind?"

"Not at all," he replied, feeling himself getting rather aroused. Melanie had such a power over him. "Alright, I have an appointment that I have to be getting to, I'll see you soon dear."

"Alright. I love you Darcy," she replied.

"I love you too, Melanie," he whispered.

XXXXXX

At 5:29, Darcy was standing at Melanie's door, looking at his reflection in the glass. He only ever seemed to care about his appearance around Melanie. Sometimes he also thought that it was improper to care more about how Melanie saw him than how Julia had ever seen him. Not that Melanie did not enjoy seeing him all out of sorts, but he tried to save that for when they were completely alone together. He knew that she loved him no matter what and he really did love her in return.

Darcy pulled out his watch and as soon as it hit 5:30, he knocked on Melanie's door. Melanie answered the door quickly, smiling at him. "Hello Darcy," she whispered, ushering him inside her home. Darcy walked in and Melanie shut the door.

Darcy looked at her and smiled right before she pulled his lips to hers. Darcy was not surprised when she kissed him. He wrapped his arms around her waist, pulling her closer to him. Melanie's hands moved from his face to remove his hat from his head, throwing it aside before her hands went to the back of his head, her fingers gently running through his hair, something that Julia had never done to him. He was sure she had run her fingers through Detective Murdoch's hair on many occasions. She never exhibited this type of passion with him.

Melanie broke the kiss a moment later and looked into his eyes. She was smiling and he was as well. "Shall we go for dinner?" he asked, breathless. "Then the Imperial Hotel?"

"Of course," she replied, retrieving Darcy's hat from the table that was right beside her and handing it to him. "Just let me grab my stuff for tomorrow."

"Alright," he said, leaning against the wall, waiting for her. She returned a moment later with her small suitcase and her purse in hand. Darcy took her suitcase and offered his arm to her. She gladly took it and they left her home, heading for the carriage outside. Once they were in the carriage, Darcy pulled Melanie closer to him and kissed her lightly. Melanie broke the kiss looking into his eyes with confusion clouding her own.

"Darcy?" she asked. "What was that for, we're not completely shielded from the public right now? We're not in a completely private place like the hotel room."

"It's just because I love you darling, really," he replied, wondering how to ask her what had been making her behave so strangely recently.

"Oh, Darcy, that's so sweet of you. So, are you going to sign the ledger with your real name tonight?" she asked. That was another thing. It always made her very angry every time he signed the ledger at the hotel under a fake name. It made her feel like their entire relationship was a lie. She wanted to know that she was really worth something too him, but signing the ledger under a random name made her belief that he was only with her to get back at his cheating wife.

"Of course," he said. "Why? Does it make you extremely unhappy when I sign the ledger under a fake name?"

"Yes," she replied, pulling farther away from him. "Honestly Darcy, when you sign the ledger under a fake name, it makes me feel like you don't truly care about me at all. It really hurts Darcy. I love you and you claim to love me, but sometimes your actions just don't prove that to me." Darcy sat there looking at her, completely speechless. "I'm sorry Darcy, but it is true. I love you and I know you love me, but do you see what I'm saying?"

"Yes, dear, I do. I'm so sorry about all of this. I'm just scared is all. I don't want to ruin your reputation because of the fact that I am a married man and if your friends found out about us being together, it could ruin you in the eyes of every single one of your friends, everyone at your church. Darling, I love you too much to do that. Is that what's been upsetting you darling? Is that why your behaviour has been really strange as of late?" he asked, putting his hand on her cheek and caressing it gently.

"Well, yes," she replied. "Mostly."

"Oh, what's the other bit?" he asked. "If it's something I can fix, please tell me darling."

"Of course," she replied. "I'm also really confused as to why you refuse to divorce Julia. Is it my fault? Do you not want to feel pressured into marrying me? Do you think I'm too clingy?"

Darcy looked at her in shock. _Why would Melanie think that it's her fault that I won't divorce Julia? _"Darling, what ever made you think that? Of course it's not your fault. I love you so much, but Julia on the other hand. I am extremely angry at her. She's running around with that Catholic Detective and she only wants to divorce me to be with him legally. But, if they love each other so much, why did she agree to marry me? To punish him? Well, possibly, but since she decided to use me to get back at him in anger over something, I'm going to do the same to her. Once she learns that she can't use people like that and get away with it, I'll sign the divorce papers. I want to marry you so much Melanie and I don't find you clingy at all. You're sweet, you're beautiful and quite frankly, you are the most stunning woman in the entire universe," he said, leaning in to kiss her again. Melanie responded to his kiss eagerly, not breaking it until the carriage stopped at the restaurant. "We're here. Let's go eat shall we?"

Melanie smiled. "Of course."

XXXXXX

Darcy poured the wine into Melanie's glass and she smiled at him lightly. "Thank you dear," she said, not breaking the eye contact between them.

"You're welcome dear," he replied. "So, how was your day?"

"Well, not too interesting. I felt a bit sick this morning, but I doubt it's anything to worry about," she said. "The rest of the day I spent thinking about you mostly."

"Ah," he replied, a slight blush creeping up into his cheeks. "Glad to know I was on the mind of such a wonderful woman."

"How was your day?" she asked, very interested to know how her lovely doctor had spent his day.

"Well, I had a few appointments, but other than that, not much. Wrote to my sister this afternoon," he said. "Mind you, I did continuously think of you as well."

"Oh, Darcy," she laughed lightly. Darcy smiled and looked up as someone caught his eye. Inspector Brackenreid and his wife. The Inspector looked at him and the two of them made eye contact until the Inspector's wife said something and his attention was drawn back to her.

"Darcy," Melanie said. "Honey, is everything alright?"

"Yes, dear. Of course, just an old acquaintance," he replied. "One of Julia's co-workers, that's all."

"Oh, well I asked you if you wanted to share a steak," she asked. "If you don't that's fine, but if we shared the steak, we could each have our own salad or something. It's completely up to you."

"Er, alright. Of course. I mean, we can always get something to eat at the dining room in the hotel as well," he said. "Plus, we don't want to be too full for tonight's activities." There was a dark glint in his eye that was quite obviously something that was frequently between the two of them, lust. He wanted her, but he would wait. "Steak and salads sound lovely."

"Alright," she said, a blush creeping up into her cheeks at the look in his eyes.

XXXXXX

Once the two of them arrived at their hotel room after having their salads and their shared steak, Darcy locked the door and dropped their bags to the floor. He removed his shoes as she sat down to remove her own. Once her shoes were off, Darcy gently pulled her into a standing position and kissed her passionately. They were finally in a completely private place and he was certainly going to take advantage of this occasion. They were frequently alone, but that didn't mean that when they were alone, they treated it as though it was nothing. Alone was special to them. They loved each other very much and they could only show it when they were alone together.

Darcy held Melanie tightly to him and moved his hand to her waist, running his hands along her until his hands were almost touching one another around her. He had no doubt that at this point, she could feel his arousal. Her arms were snaked around his neck, her fingers locked together to hold him tighter to her.

Darcy began to undo the buttons of Melanie's dress while his hands were around her. It was a thrilling feeling to him, undressing her. She was so much more fun than his own wife was. Melanie unlinked her fingers to bring her arms back around his neck. Darcy enjoyed undressing her while she undressed him. She completely understood why. She loosened his tie and pulled it off, throwing it over her shoulder after she did so. She began undoing the buttons of his shirt before he broke the kiss, releasing her waist and letting her dress fall to the floor. He lifted her up off the ground slightly, helping her out of it once and for all, leaving her barely dressed. She quickly undid the rest of the buttons on his shirt, throwing it off him and on to the floor before getting down on her knees and undoing his belt, pulling it through the belt loops of his trousers. She put the belt on the floor and unbuttoned and unzipped his trousers, pulling them down to help them get to the floor faster. Darcy sighed as his trousers fell to the floor, almost releasing his arousal from all restraints. Melanie stood back up and kissed him. "I love you," she whispered, taking his hand and leading him to the bed. He sat down on it and Melanie put her back to him for him to help remove her corset. Tonight Darcy was removing it quicker than he had during previous encounters. He was very eager. Melanie simply let her corset fall to the ground and she turned around to look at Darcy again, pulling his vest over his head. Darcy pulled the pins that were holding her hair up in the elaborate style from her hair gently. Her hair gently fell around her shoulders. Darcy gently touched her long, soft, thick, blonde hair, enjoying how it felt between his fingers.

The couple finished undressing each other and finally they were naked upon the bed. Darcy got on top of Melanie and stared into her eyes, waiting for her sign of approval to continue. Melanie gazed up into the eyes of her lover and gently pulled his lips to hers for a gentle kiss. Darcy broke the kiss after a moment and Melanie nodded lightly. "I love you," he whispered as he gently pushed himself into her. As it always did, Melanie's mouth opened slightly when he entered her. It was something else he loved about her, she actually reacted when the two of them made love, Julia never did. He was sure that when she engaged in such activities with the Detective, she reacted and quite soundly as well. Melanie was naturally a quieter woman than Julia and so, he didn't expect much noise to come out of her when they made love, but he always did seem to ultimately get a noise of absolute delight and pleasure out of her mouth.

He set a pace between the two of them that was slow, steady and very loving. He used every opportunity he received to show her exactly how much he loved her and he had already made mistakes with her that he did not wish to repeat. He couldn't lose her to some other man. Sure, he knew that he wasn't the most handsome man around, but Melanie considered him very handsome. Julia didn't comment much on his looks, even though he had frequently told her that she looked quite beautiful. He felt that telling Melanie that she only looked beautiful was crazy, she **was **beautiful and he loved her with all his heart. If only he had known her feelings for him before he had married Julia, he never would have married Julia in the first place. But a while back, if he had thought about Melanie having feelings for him, he would have thought he was crazy. He and Melanie had known one another since they were young. They were barely teenagers when the two of them met and became friends. He never would have left Buffalo if he knew that she would be broken up over his leaving. After he was married, he had taken a trip to Buffalo to visit his family.

"_Melanie, what's the problem?" he had asked._

"_Darcy, I can't believe you did this to me. Your own best friend, don't you know how much I love you, why would you marry a woman you barely know?" she yelled at him, tears streaming down her face. "You're all I have ever wanted and now, you've run off to Toronto and married some woman."_

Darcy hadn't regretted marrying Julia until that visit to Buffalo. He had returned to Toronto, with Melanie following less than a week after with a ticket bought by him. She had no intentions of returning, so naturally they rekindled their friendship and ultimately, he also discovered his love for her. He continued thrusting in and out of her gently. Melanie began moaning slightly. She was fairly close to her release. He loved how her moans always seemed to bring him closer to his release as well. She was his perfect match and they knew it because of how well they made love to one another. It was completely natural for the two of them and required no words. Darcy's only problem was when he thought about Julia during intercourse with Melanie. Although, he was comparing the two in his mind all the time, and Melanie was always on top of everything that he had ever used to compare the two women, so he assumed it was alright. Julia would never be as good as Melanie in his eyes. Melanie was his everything. Julia was the Detective's everything.

"Oh, Darcy, yes, please. K-keep going. Oh, please don't stop now Darcy. Darcy, don't ever stop," Melanie moaned. "Oh, I love you. Oh oh oh." Her muscles contracted around him as she hit her release. Darcy's body couldn't take any more after having her muscles contract like that and he hit his own release. Darcy got off of Melanie and he lay next to her, pulling her into his arms. The two of them rested there, holding the other. Melanie caught her breath first and looked up at him, kissing his cheek softly.

Darcy smiled down at her, still trying to catch his own breath. "Melanie, that was absolutely wonderful," he said. "It always is wonderful, never doubt that, but wow. You are quite simply the best at knowing exactly how I like it."

"Darcy, remember, you are the only one I have ever had, so I can't get you mixed up with anyone else," she replied, moving slightly to lay on top of him completely. She locked her fingers together and put her hands on his chest, leaning on them. Darcy put his hand in her hair and began running his fingers through it.

"Don't worry, I do remember," he replied. "I only wish I had saved myself for you like you did for me."

"Darling, it's alright, you were married. Love making is expected when you're married. It's a requirement," she whispered, kissing his chest lightly, making him shiver slightly from the contact.

"You're so beautiful," he said. "And you're also right. But if I hadn't made love to her, Julia and I wouldn't be married anymore. The annulment would have been approved. I was willing to say that she and I had never engaged in such activities, but she couldn't lie about it."

"Darcy, are you saying that she's the one holding you to your marriage?" she asked. "That certainly makes sense. If only she had claimed that your marriage had never been consummated, we could be together. Really together. Once and for all."

"Melanie, you're making a lot of sense, I never thought of it like that," he replied. "I love you so much."

"I love you too," she replied, rolling back onto her back, pulling Darcy on top of her. Darcy smiled once on top of Melanie again as he leaned down and kissed her lips gently, entering her once again.

XXXXXX

The next morning, Melanie woke up feeling sick again. She untangled herself from the sheets and gently got out of Darcy's arms and pulled on her dressing gown, making her way to the bathroom that was attached to the room. Yesterday morning she had thought that it was something she had eaten the night before. Last night she and Darcy had the same thing. If she was sick because of something she had eaten, Darcy would be in there with her, sick as well, but that didn't seem to be the case. She barely made it to the toilet before she threw up into it. Today was going to be the same as yesterday, only worse because now she had to wonder what could have caused this. She had been fine before lunch the previous day and now she was sick again. She had never experienced anything of the sort and it worried her.

Darcy woke up with a smile, until he realized that Melanie was not in his arms. He loved her and naturally, he began to wonder what could have made her leave the bed. He heard groaning coming from the bathroom and assumed right away that it was her. He got off the bed, putting his dressing gown on and going into the bathroom where he found Melanie on the floor over the toilet.

"Melanie, what's wrong dear?" he asked. "I thought you said you were over whatever made you sick yesterday morning."

"I was over it, but it seems it came back. Yesterday morning I thought it was something that I had eaten, now I'm not so sure, unless you're sick too. I mean, we did eat the same thing for dinner last night," she said, right before throwing up into the toilet once again.

"I'm perfectly fine dear, except my worry for you could be considered rather serious. Perhaps you should make an appointment with your favourite doctor," he suggested, pulling her hair back to prevent her from throwing up on her hair.

"Yes, of course," she replied, throwing up again. "Darcy, do you have any available time for an appointment for me today? I really want to get to the bottom of all of this."

"Of course I do darling. I have 2 appointments today, and now with yours, three," he replied, leaning down, kissing her neck gently. "You know I'll always do what ever you ask of me. Once you feel slightly better, we'll go down for breakfast."

"Darcy, really, you can go for breakfast. I don't want to hold you back from eating," she replied, throwing up again. "I feel terrible, so I might be a while darling."

"I'm not leaving you Melanie," he replied. "You mean too much to me. Something could keep you up here and you could be in much worse shape than just sickness. Darling, I am staying up here with you. I would never go down to breakfast without you. I invited you to spend the night with me, I refuse to leave you."

"Oh, Darcy, I love you so very much. Most men would just leave and go for breakfast, but not you," she said. "You are truly a wonderful man. Never even doubt that."

"Alright Melanie, do you mind if I run a bath for the two of us?" he asked. "Maybe that will help with your sickness."

"Go ahead darling, but could you pin my hair back so that I don't throw up all over it?" she asked.

"Of course," he said, reaching into the pocket of her dressing gown and retrieving the clip that she kept in there, pinning her hair back with it.

"Thank you," she said as Darcy got up, walked over to the tub and started drawing a bath.

"You're welcome my dear," he said smiling at her. "Anything I can ever do to help."

XXXXXX

5 minutes later, Darcy and Melanie were sitting in the tub, Darcy's arms wrapped around her. "Do you feel any better Melanie?" he asked.

"A bit, thank you," she replied.

"Don't thank me darling. Any idiot can draw a bath for himself and the woman he loves," he said, running his fingers up and down her arm.

"Darcy, it's really just occurred to me that I can't have an appointment with you," she said, turning her head slightly to see his face.

"Why not darling?" he asked, pausing his fingers.

"I'm not a child. Darcy, if this is an excuse to see me.." she started.

"Melanie, darling, I didn't mean an appointment in my office, I meant an appointment at my home. I don't want you going to see another Doctor. Especially if..." he trailed off as a thought entered his mind. "No, it can't be."

"Can't be what, Darcy?" she asked, fear flooding her eyes. She had no idea what he was talking about. He moved his hand from her arm to her stomach, travelling downwards, stopping around the area of her uterus.

"It's possible," he whispered, pressing down again.

"Darcy, don't leave me out of this," she said. "What is it?"

"Darling, tell me, have your clothes felt tighter?" he asked.

"Darcy, are you calling me fat?" she asked, the hurt showing in her eyes.

"No, I am not. Melanie, please answer the question," he said.

"A little bit. I wouldn't worry about it though. I can lose weight," she replied.

"No, don't worry about your weight. Have you had... well, yes actually you have," he said.

"Have had what?" she asked.

"Crying issues love," he said. "Random bursts of anger followed by happiness."

"Well, yeah I have," she said.

Darcy propped his elbow up on the edge of the tub and rested his head against it. "Melanie, this question is extremely private, but I must ask it, otherwise I won't know for certain."

"Ask away Darcy," she said.

"Is your menstrual cycle late?" he asked quietly.

"I don't know. What's today's date?" she asked.

"It's the 15th of September," he replied.

Melanie took a moment to answer, counting the days off in her head. She closed her eyes and nodded. "I'm so sorry Darcy. I've let you down."

"In what way?" he asked. "Melanie, you've never let me down. Ever."

"Well, you're married and now I've ruined your reputation because I'm pregnant and you're the father," she said, sobbing into her hands. "I have to go." She got up and out of the tub, grabbing a towel and her dressing gown. Darcy followed her less than a second later. Once he found her trying to get dressed, he took her wrist and gently pulled her to him. She turned around and he could see that she was indeed crying.

"Melanie, please. Why do you suddenly have to go?" he asked. "Do you think I'm upset with you or something? About the pregnancy. Melanie, I'm insanely happy. Now, I really will sign the divorce papers. I have you, I have no need for Julia any more. I have you and a family. Melanie, she can have the Catholic Copper all she wants, I have more than her, I have a family."

Melanie looked up into Darcy's eyes, reaching up to touch his face gently. "Perhaps we should go talk to Julia. Get her to get a new copy of the divorce papers, then you can sign them. Then there will be four people in the world who are undeniably happy in this world," she said. "Only if you still really want to marry me though."

"Of course I still want to marry you," Darcy replied, taking Melanie's hands in his own. "Why would I not want to marry you, you're carrying my child. You are my everything now."

Melanie smiled lightly. "I love you Darcy, you are a wonderful man and I don't know what I would do without you." Darcy smiled back at Melanie and she rested her head on his shoulder. Darcy wrapped his arm around Melanie and held her close to him. "Thank you for everything Darcy, you are everything to me and really, sometimes I don't think that I deserve you."

"Melanie, don't say that, really, you can't say that. Why would you ever think that you don't deserve me?" he asked. "Melanie, you deserve me more than I deserve you."

"Darcy, it's just that you're a Doctor, married and you're honestly the most handsome man I have ever met in my entire life," she said, stepping closer to him and leaning up to kiss his lips softly. "You're my everything."

Darcy smiled at Melanie lightly. "You're my everything as well. Let's go speak to Julia about all this."


End file.
